1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data transmission/reception system for transmitting notification mail to a communication terminal of an intended receiver of the image data notifying the receiver that image data has been transmitted. The present invention also relates to a data transmitter and an image-forming device employed by this system.
2. Description of the Related Art
When transmitting image data by a facsimile transmission, conventional data transmission/reception systems have employed a function to transmit notification mail to a communication terminal (cellular phone, personal computer, or the like) of an intended receiver of image data (that is, the image formed based on the image data) indicating that the image data has been transmitted. These systems are convenient in that a user can learn that image data has been received by the user's facsimile without periodically going to the facsimile to check whether image data has been received or not.
The disadvantage of this data transmission/reception system, however, is that the user cannot immediately view the image, even after receiving the notification mail, when the notification mail is sent to a mobile terminal such as a cellular phone, or when the user is not near the facsimile at the time. If the image is confidential material in this case, the user may not be able to prevent a third party from viewing the confidential image, even though the user receives notification mail.